Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Save the Co-operative Bank!

Newsletter 26 November

Crunch time at the bank - help spread the word

While the media has been focused on the revelations about former Co-op
Bank chair Paul Flowers, the Co-op Bank itself has been worrying about
how to ensure that investors accept the proposed rescue plan. The first
deadline is at the end of this week, and all votes must be in by the
following week. No one really knows what will happen if the investors
don’t vote for the plan. If they accept then there will be rapid
movement to seal the deal with the hedge funds. Save Our Bank could have
an important influence on how that works.It is vital that Save Our Bank campaign can speak for as many customers as possible.
Thousands have already signed up but the next week is crucial and we
need your help to reach critical mass. Then we can push for our aims: a
way to ensure that whoever owns the bank implements customer-led ethical
polices, and plans an eventual return to co-operative majority control.We are asking all supporters urgently to take action:Please Forward this email to 10 people you know who might bank with the Co-op, and ask them to pass it on.
If you're a social media user thenTweet now, asking people to visit our site and sign up to the campaign:Support #saveourbank campaign, sign up at http://saveourbank.coop and help us make the #CoopBank stick to its principlesContact your Facebook friends and ask them to sign up to the campaign:Let’s all support the Save Our Bank campaign to make the Co-op Bank stick to its ethical principles - sign up at http://saveourbank.coop

No change to Save Our Bank message

The revelations about Paul Flowers have shocked many people but Save Our
Bank supporters already knew that something had gone badly wrong at the
bank. Whatever the promised enquiries discover, the bank has new
managers and will soon have a new ownership structure. Our priority is
making sure it sticks to its principles and that the door is left open
to an eventual return to co-operative majority control. We still say to
customers: don’t switch yet, join our campaign. We can make a difference.

Bank proposes way to fix ethical principles

New proposed articles of association were published by the Co-operative
Bank on 14th November. These have generally escaped media attention
because of the furore about Paul Flowers. We welcome some aspects of the
articles such as the creation of an ethics committee, but we do not
think it will be enough to withstand the commercial pressures in the
bank while it is majority owned by private investors. We need to push
for a real ethical policy guarantee.
You can read our response in full here.

More organisations back our Ethical Declaration

Our Ethical Policy declaration has now been signed by 20 NGOs and other
organisations that use the Co-operative Bank, including Oxfam,
Greenpeace UK and Friends of the Earth. If your organisation would like
to support the declaration, sign up here.

Monday, 25 November 2013

Women
Together

Crossroads
Women’s Centre, Saturday 9 November 2013

Women
have a lot to say and sometimes are not shy about saying it!They crowded into the Crossroads Women’s
Centre in Kentish Town on Saturday 9 November, for ‘Women Together Speak Up –
Making Community, Tackling Problems’.Crossroads Women, the local charity hosting it, aimed to “give a voice
to those women whose needs are most likely to be neglected, especially in
these hard times”.

Children were made
welcome by the ever popular Colin the Clown who provided entertainment
throughout the meeting.

Women of many diverse
backgrounds, from teenagers to grandmothers, movingly described events and
experiences.Most felt mothers and
carers were being devalued and impoverished.

They raised economic
problems.A pregnant woman was fearful
of the future as her husband had lost his job and she had no independent
income.A single mother had been
threatened with benefit sanctions despite applying for 150 jobs.Another was doing sex-phone work to feed
her children.

Many had found care
services uncaring.A mother grieving
the death of a son had had her breastfeeding baby taken away by social
services.A woman recounted her
difficulties getting support in place on leaving a mental health
hospital.Relatives were struggling to
ensure loved ones who were sick or had disabilities received the attention
they were officially entitled to.Support for breastfeeding was being cut and new mothers and their
infants were not being helped.

Violence and
discrimination were also recurrent themes.A woman had witnessed sexual harassment by guards while in a detention
centre; a mother complained of police targeting her Black son and other Black
men for stop and search; a lesbian woman said many LBGTQ young people were
homeless and faced attack.

Many of those present were
from Camden, but some had travelled from other boroughs.And some from Scotland and Wales – they had
come for an earlier meeting and had decided to stay to listen and contribute.

The indignity of food
banks, loss of play centres and other cuts, juggling jobs, job search and
study with childcare and housework, homelessness, bailiffs, unaffordable fuel
bills and rents, rape, racism and other discrimination made for a grim
framework.

The meeting aimed at
sharing not only problems but solutions, and women proved creative and
determined.The woman
whose child was taken from her, had fought alongside breastfeeding advocates
and got her daughter back – she was at the meeting and thriving.Others were campaigning to get re-housed or
stop police injustices.A rape
survivor had written a play to highlight her experiences and wanted volunteer
actors to help stage it.A woman
recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis had started a parents’ support
group.More than one woman said that a
successful outcome depended on not giving up, and getting together with
others.All agreed.Supportive men described how much they owed
their mothers and partners.Norway was
mentioned as an example of breastfeeding success – a mothers-led campaign had
reversed a downward trend and 99% of infants are now breastfed.A petition for a living wage for mothers
and other carers received a warm welcome.

The Women’s Centre was
praised for providing a space where women and their families could meet,
volunteer and support each other.Solveig Francis of Crossroads Women,
commented: “Women shared truths rarely heard in public, and came out informed
and fortified.”A sign language
interpreter, who volunteered her services, ensured that deaf people present
could participate.

Women filled in a
‘Mothers/Carers Have Your Say’ questionnaire, which was launched at the event
alongside two ‘Did You Know?’ fact sheets: ‘Poverty & Wealth in the UK’,
and ‘Caring for Children & Adults in the UK’.(All are available at www.crossroadswomen.net.)

On Saturday 7 December, the
Women’s Centre will be hosting a Living
History Meeting where two East End survivors of the London blitz will
recount their experiences of working class endurance and rebuilding during
World War Two.And there will be a Christmas Fair on Saturday 14
December (11-2pm).

Thursday, 21 November 2013

You are receiving this update because you signed Jayne Linney and Debbie Sayers' petition: "Work & Pensions Committee: Hold IDS to account for his use of statistics"

Alan -

Monday
9th December - mark your diaries! - that is the day that Iain Duncan
Smith will appear before the Work and Pensions Committee to face
questions over his use of statistics.

This week we deliveredour petition for IDS to be held to account--
which included your name -- to Parliament. Liz Kendall and Kate Green
MP officially accepted it and placed it in the green bag behind the
speaker's chair, as is the tradition.

It was a
big day for us, to finally see all 105,000 names on our petition
printed out and to take the campaign to Parliament. We have lived with
disabilities for many years and have had to hear Iain Duncan Smith use
dodgy statistics to justify changes to the benefit system. Now finally,
we have been listened to and have had our voices heard.

The Work and Pensions Committee say they will question IDS when he appears before them in three weeks time
and examine how his department release benefit statistics to the media.
It is a huge relief to finally tell you our petition has been a
success!

CENTRE
FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE CLAIMS POOR PEOPLE NEED HELP WITH THEIR DEBTS;
QUITE SO BUT THE POOREST NEED HELP WITH THEIR INCOMES TO PREVENT DEBT.

Centre
for Social Justice has just discovered that "Problem debt can have a
corrosive impact on people and families" in a report called "Maxed Out".

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ)
was set up by Iain Duncan Smith while he was in opposition and
recommended the welfare reforms we now experience and that are in the
pipe line with the Universal Credit.

Like
all government reports the CSJ refuses to acknowledge in "Maxed Out"
incomes must be raised to meet the a minimum cost of living in order to
prevent poverty related debts and their consequent "corrosive impact".
An otherwise very useful report is spoilt by "This vision rested on recognising that using money alone to combat disadvantage, as important as income is, is too narrow an approach".

There
is a point at which money alone must combat disadvantage and prevent
debt. That point has been passed when an unemployment benefit of £71.70
is not only 42% of the Joseph Rowntree minimum income standard but is
also being hit by the council tax, the bedroom tax, the £500 overall benefit cap and the 1% freeze in annual increases. .

The coalition was warned by others time and again in 2012 that caps, cuts and council tax would create debt.

During
the passage of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and the Local Government
Finance Act 2012, which started the taxation of benefits with the
council tax by local authorities, the attention of Lord Freud was drawn
to the Government Office for Science in 2008 report "Mental Capital and Well being". I quote

"Debt. There is a strong case for Government to work with financial organisations and utility companies to break the cycle between debt and mental illness. Recent research has indicated that debt is a much stronger risk factor for mental disorder than low income. A range of possible interventions are suggested: a greater awareness of the link between mental health and debt by banks and financial institutions; and measures by utility companies to handle arrears better."

I
was present on behalf of Zacchaeus 2000 Trust when the Royal College of
Psychiatrists warned Lord Freud about the relationship between debt and
mental illness.

The coalition would not change their policies in 2012 to prevent the misery now reported by the CSJ.

Caps, cuts and council tax are now wreaking havoc in the lives of the poorest citizens.

FROM THE BBC NEWS WEBSITE.

"BBC home affairs editor Mark Easton said the poorest people could often
access banking and credit only at a premium, with onerous terms making
it more likely they would go overdrawn and suffer penalty charges.

Mr Christian Guy (Director of CSJ)
said the poorest people in the UK were "cut off from mainstream banking
and have no choice now but to turn to loan sharks and high-cost
lenders".

The report says payday lenders have increased business from £900m in 2008/2009 to more than £2bn in 2011/2012.

It
says more than 26,000 UK households have been accepted by councils as
homeless in the past five years because of mortgage and rent arrears.

Mr
Chris Pond (a former Labour Work an Pensions Minister) said that "with
falling real incomes and increasing costs of basic essentials, many,
especially the most vulnerable, are sliding further into problem debt.

"The costs to those affected, in stress and mental disorders, relationship breakdown and hardship is immense.

But
so too is the cost to the nation, measured in lost employment and
productivity and in an increased burden on public services."

“*The answer must lie in investing in key industries and the new skills –
required to make the UK a world leader in the renewable energy and 'green'
construction industries.*

“*How this investment is funded – directly by Government or via a
so-called 'Green Investment Bank' - is a debate we need to have, but it's
clear that this Government is failing to promote the discussion – or,
sufficiently, green jobs and environmental industries.*

“*That's why I'm hosting a day conference with trade unions, European
policymakers and leading industry figures to discuss how we can work
together to meet the economic and environmental challenges we face here in
the UK and help deliver the EU commitment to a low-carbon future.”*

Other speakers at the event include TUC General Secretary *Frances O'Grady*,
EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion *Laszlo
Andor*and Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group *Andrew
Raingold*.

The event, which will take place at the TUC Congress Centre in London next
Friday, November 29, is free – but places are limited, so it's necessary to
register in advance at www.greeneconfuture.eventbrite.com

Ms Lambert, a member of the European Parliament's Employment and Social
Affairs Committee, added: *“We have the potential here in the UK to create
thousands of new jobs and lead the way in tackling the great environmental
crises the world faces in the 21st Century. I hope we can rise to the
challenge, and that this conference can play a role in that.”*

*Journalists and photographers are welcome at the discussion: please
contact Ben by email or on any number below to arrange.*

*Jean Lambert* is one of eight MEPs representing London and one of two UK
Green representatives in the European Parliament. *Jean was first elected
Green Party Member of the European Parliament for London in the 1999
European elections and was* re-elected in 2004 and 2009.

How we use our stewardship of increased KUWG finance. Alan proposes that KUWG

Considers a budget for running costs including

stationery [printouts of minutes],

campaigning materials,

room hires for workshops

travel costs,

training

Starts an investment a/c with Nationwide Building Society that will earn us more
generous and more ethical interest than available through the current Barclays current
a/c or anything hedge-fund owned Co-operative Bank could offer us. Co-operative Bank
customers include human rights abusing and corporation tax-dodging
G4S!

Alan recognises that setting budgets may require consideration beyond this one group meeting!

Members of KUWG get a bit of reverential 'glasstic surgery' for staving off an eviction threat

Unemployed and tenant activists in Brent, north west London, stopped
two evictions of vulnerable people from their homes last week by
fighting back. I’m part of Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group. One of our members was going to be evicted from his small bedsit.

He suffers from mental health problems and lives on benefits. We helped him challenge the eviction notice in court. They asked for proof of his benefits which we sent to them. But the bailiff went ahead with the eviction anyway.

The injustice of that convinced a group of us go and physically block the eviction—and we stopped it. When they came to change the locks we refused to let them anywhere near the door. The
bailiff argued that we could always appeal the decision after they
changed the locks—but where was the guy supposed to go in the meantime?

In another case, a woman who is six months pregnant and a foster
carer for two children, lives in a shared room in a B&B with
bunk-beds. The council threatened her
with eviction for refusing offers of accommodation in other London
boroughs some distance from ours, or out of London completely.

There seemed to be no thought for the children as they would have
been taken out their school and far from their friends. There was also
an issue with domestic violence and moving to one particular place just
wasn’t suitable at all.

The woman barricaded her family into their room while a group of us
were outside in support from various local activist groups like ours. We shamed the council into committing to find her somewhere to live in the borough. It’s important to have networks around us that help us fight back and not feel like we’re isolated.

And it’s important to resist. We might not always win—but we have to fight.

Clarence JackmanNorth West London

Swheatie's Post Script to this: What cowardly landlords get up to when the spotlight of comradely intervention is away is another matter. The price of liberty is constant vigilance or, as a Quaker has noted, peace is more a process than an eventual destination

From CarerWatch blog. Includes tweeting stuff. Note that the deadline for the WOW Petition is little under a month away, and it is currently only 4/5 of the way to achieving the required 100,000 signatures. It would be great if champions of social justice could get anything like the media time that minority party UKIP gets!

Daily we read stories informing us of the impact of welfare benefit
changes, on many disabled people, carers and families. Campaigners have
worked tirelessly to raise these issues with politicians and media.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN

There is one month till WOW petition ends ( sign here ), time to give this another push. With YOUR help they can achieve the required number of 100,000.
Tomorrow, Thursday 14/11/2013 there is to be mass tweetathons at -
9 – 10 am
12 – 1 pm and
7 – 8 pm
All details, including which hash tags to use can be found on WOW blog here About these ads.

How we use our stewardship of increased KUWG finance. Alan proposes that KUWG

Pays up front for weekly room rental at Kingsgate Community Centre up till end of December 2014 at least

Makes a donation to LCAP, and maybe even a standing order to TUC National Appeal for
the Unemployed, and/or set aside a special a/c to help fund our outreach to emerging unemployed
workers/claimants union groups outside London

Considers a budget for running costs including

stationery [printouts of minutes],

campaigning materials,

room hires for workshops

travel costs,

training

Starts an investment a/c with Nationwide Building Society, Triodos Bank or Metro Bank that will earn us more
generous and more ethical interest than available through the current Barclays current
a/c or anything hedge-fund owned Co-operative Bank could offer us. Co-operative Bank
customers include human rights abusing and corporation tax-dodging
G4S!

Alan recognises that setting budgets may require consideration beyond this one group meeting!

A new privatisatition threat

Message from retired but still active social policy researcher Anne Gray of Tottenham, who has written extensively about workfare since even before this blog was created.

Reading the below, we might wonder when the Government or any political party will offer us a Referendum on the matter of contracts that are "'protected' against being rescinded by a future government" or even the decades long jobcentre-based practice that states that contracts involving the particiipation of economically vulnerable people are "too confidential" for even the conscripted economically vulnerable person to have access to! (Through that practice, the jobcentre has consistently denied Swheatie 'unsupervised access' to copies of Action Plans and reports pertaining to him for as far back as 1978.)

'Commercial confidentiality' also rules that the amount Atos Healthcare gets in bonuses for declaring vulnerable and even terminally ill people 'fit for work' or 'fit for work related activity' are too confidential for the public to have access to.

The
NHS is especially at risk from the proposed new opening up of service
industry tenders to American companies on the same terms as EU ones.
Furthermore, the agreement is likely to propose that any contracts are
'protected' against being rescinded by a future government!

Colonising growing minds

Education Secretary and Rupert Murdoch disciple Michael Gove would have us believe that if people are poor, then that is their fault. Sounds
very much like Iain Duncan Smith, Lord Freud, David Cameron, George
Osborne, et al.

What are the consequences for society and the caring professions in Michael Gove's approach?

Isa Muazu Hunger Strike

Sorry
for the late notice but our friends in Unity, Glasgow asked us to distribute
an appeal for people to come to Isa Muazu's court
hearing tomorrow at:

10.30 am at the Administrative Court, Royal Courts of
Justice, Strand, London.

Unity’s
message says:

“This is
the third hearing regarding Isa's hunger strike. The judge has said that Isa
is using the hunger strike to manipulate his release despite evidence that
without hospitalisation at this point Isa's condition is likely fatal.
Medical Justice are heavily involved and managed to find Isa legal
representation.

Isa's
hunger strike began because he could not eat any of the food available in the
detention centre (Harmondsworth) because of two
conditions he suffers from Haemorrhoids and a kidney condition, He went to a
screening interview voluntarily after a number of refused leave to remain
applications as the situation with BokoHaram worsened and he has been targetted
by this group in Nigeria.

Isa took
food with him including liver, kidney beans and vegetables because his diet
is strict and he calls it his medicine for his kidney problems. He was not
permitted to take this food into detention and he was also told at the start
of the interview he would not be detained when he told them about his health.

During
detention he was taken to hospital for surgery for the haemorrhoids but the
doctor could not perform the surgery because he was too ill, weak and had
lost a lot of weight. This was because he was only eating cornflakes.

Harmondsworth were informed by Unity on
numerous occasions of his dietary needs and we said we would send the food he
requested but they said 'we do not have children in here' on the phone and
did not respond to faxes.

Isa
decided to stop eating cornflakes because of the complete lack of recognition
for his health. He started collapsing and was taken to the health care wing
permanently.

Once
Medical Justice found him a lawyer, staff at Harmondsworth
advised him that he could now resume eating and take fluids because he had a
hearing coming up and everything was going to be ok after that so he was
taken to hospital and was put on a drip and ate half a sandwhich
and I think some yogurt. When the hearing commenced this was used against him
as it was stated he was accepting treatment offered by the detention centre
and he was no longer at risk.

Because
of this Isa feels he was tricked and refuses to accept any healthcare or
food, hence, his critical condition. Besides the food taken at the hospital
he has been on hunger strike for two months now and is very weak.

Isa wants
as many people to attend his hearing as possible as he does not want his
treatment and the treatment of others to go unnoticed.

Monday, 11 November 2013

Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group members oppose evictions

Members of Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group recently helped at least defer an eviction and give invaluable breathing space to one of our members who was faced with the threat of eviction. But as is the case with bullying landlords, the landlord involved is continuing to add to the mental health problems of the tenant involved and so anti-eviction work is a process that needs to continue in the case involved from last Wednesday.

And as activists should be venerated rather than witch-hunted, here is a stained glass effect touch up by Swheatie of a photo that was taken on Wednesday 6 November — a touch-up that led one kuwga [Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group activist] to exclaim:

Universal Credit: Notes — with Web links — from our most recent guest speaker at a Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group business meeting.*

Universal Credit Information Notes

Introduction

Proposals for the Universal Credit scheme (UC) first emerged in September 2009 from the Centre for Social Justice; Iain Duncan Smith, the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who is tasked with setting up the project in the current government was the then chairman of the Centre.

The supposed purpose of UC is to simplify and consolidate the existing benefits system, and so reduce welfare dependency by making work more appealing to claimants, encouraging financial rectitude and reducing the current welfare budget. It will also make wage savings in the public sector as it is intended to be part of the "Digital by Default" programme. The October 2013 edition of "Labour Research" states that the government is claiming that while UC will cost £2.2 billion in in development and delivery costs, it will save an estimated £38 billion by reducing administrative, fraud and error costs by 2023. This figure includes an estimated annual saving of £100 million by transferring claimants onto the new system.

Last July DWP whistleblowers began to tweet claims that "at least £300 million had been
written off from the UC budget due to continued IT failures; when this information reached the national media the government initially stated that £34 million would be written off, but as of the 11th of September The Guardian was quoting the DWP's finance director as stating that "up to £161 million would be written off, with the governmenfs oversight body, the Major Projects Authority claiming "at leasf £140 million was lost."

Despite this, and the resulting delays in rolling out the project - which was initially due to
begin nationally this October - the project is set to continue. As the flagship policy of the
Welfare Reform Act it is considered too big to fail. On 8th October 2013 Esther McVey said
an estimated 1 million households will be claiming UC by the time it is fully implemented in
2017. This will include anyone who claims any of the six benefits that will be rationalised
under the system, including those in low-paid or part-time employment who top-up their
earnings with benefits: by 2017 this group will also be subject to the requirements of the
DWP claimant regime, including the possibility of sanctions - the removal of -benefits - for a period of up to three years.

The comptexities of introducing the UC system are mirrored by the difficulties in producing coherent and specific criticisms of the policy. As difficulties with the proposed system emerge they are adjusted by "on the fly" decisions: for example, when the "pathflnder" tests for UC had been introduced in Ashton-under-Lyne it was noted that there was a massive increase in rent arrears, so now there is a two month "switchback" for the Housing Benefit element of the policy whereby that poftion of the UC payment can be paid directly'to the landlord. Similarly there are aspects of UC that have received little media focus, such as the role of UC in providing an individual "electronic ID card" as part of the Digital by Default proposals.

For this reason the factsheet cannot cover all the ramifications of the policy, or the
mechanisms by which it will mesh with other parts of the austerity-induced [or austerity-excused] welfare reforms. While some of this will be covered in today's session, the factsheet is timited to a series of notable items, with accompanying web links where possible, and some handy websites to watch as the policy progresses into the public realm. These are:

Benefits and Payments: The six "working-age" benefits to be consolidated into a single
UC payment are:

Jobseekers' Allowance;

Employment and Support Allowance;

Income Support;

Child Tax Credit;

Working Tax Credit and

Housing Benefit.

The Benefits Cap maximums of £350 per week for a single person and £500 per week for a family will still apply. They will now however be paid into a nominated "householder' bank account as a single monthly payment. You will be expected to apply for and manage your UC account online. There are a few case studies of current UC claimants, together with some financial advice on how to cope with the introduction of UC at this government funded site:

THE CUMULATIVE IMPACT OF ALL CAPS, CUTS AND COUNCIL TAX UNFAIR AND UNECONOMIC.

Mental
and physical illness inevitably follow debt, eviction, hunger and cold
homes; they costs taxpayer billions in the NHS, the schools and the
wider economy.

INTRODUCTION

It is the cumulative impact of caps, cuts and
council tax on benefit incomes, already below the poverty line, which is
causing debt, eviction, debt, hunger and cold homes. Large families are
very badly hit by the overall benefit cap when all annual increases are
frozen at 1%, the council tax has to be paid sometimes with court and
bailiffs' enforcement costs of well over £200 added to arrears, while
the costs of food, fuel, clothes transport and other necessities
escalate. This leads to eviction overcrowded temporary accommodation,
and uprooting from extended families.

The caps, cuts and council tax made me very angry when I met a
single mother with seven children who is now expected to pay £282 rent
out of her £500 benefit cap leaving £218 to cover council tax and
everything else. According to research at the University of York for the
Joseph Rowntree Foundation/Centre for Research in Social Policy food
alone should cost that family £211 a week to maintain a healthy diet.

No one told that mother, say 14 years ago, that if she had a large
family she and her children would be made destitute by the State in
2013. Hitting them hard now is deeply unfair. Each child is a precious
bundle of life whose income from the State should provide food, warmth,
clothes other necessities and a decent affordable home with their mother
when all else fails, so providing a secure base for the children's
education and for the parents to look for work; that's what Taxpayers
Against Poverty stands for.

CASE HISTORIES POSTED ON TAXPAYERS AGAINST POVERTY FACEBOOK BLOG.

CUMULATIVE
IMPACT OF BEDROOM TAX, COUNCIL TAX AND 1% FREEZE ON INCREASES OF ALL
BENEFITS IS PARTICULARLY DISASTROUS FOR NEWLY UNEMPLOYED WITH MANY YEARS
EMPLOYMENT AND TAXPAYING BEHIND THEM.

A HARD WORKING 60 YEAR OLD TAXPAYER UNEMPLOYED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 43 YEARS. CASE A.
.
"am 60 now lost my job due to ill health, first time on benefits(so
******** horrible, treated like a scrounger) and I've paid into the
system for 43 years and I get treated as a sponger..being. single and
having an extra bedroom I have benefit reductions on my £71.70p leaving
me with about £57 to pay all my bills, gas, electric, water, food. I
have now not paid my extra rent and council tax for 1 week now. Thank
you Tories and liberals for demoralising me......my next move is the
streets to beg?...and then maybe prison for stealing food to live (and
this is great Britain. I think not)

CASE B

I lived on £27.40 after coming out of prison as
a teenager for a driving offence with no fixed abode and no one to turn
to, I squatted on the Stonebridge estate in properties not fit for
habitation and still lived better than some people who have to live on
benefits because of mental or physical disabilities today. The
government are screwing the people of this country into the ground and
were letting them; Time to take a stand is now how many more people have
to die this winter because they can’t afford heat ...

CASE C

@TAP my revised benefit for two adults is £7.50
per week until trumped-up sanctions from the Work Program are ratified
when it will be reduced by £7.50 per week. My crime was printing off a
copy of a truly foul piece of abuse about myself and other victims,
there was no rudeness, bad language or agitated behaviour on my side but
such is the way of the state's bullies. I've redacted this for
decency’s sake. This was posted in my presence and forwarded to me by
anonymous

CASE D

I am going through this I am a single disabled
person who last year failed the Atos capability assessment my appeal
will not be heard till this December just over a year since my
assessment out of my £71 a week I have to pay room tax council tax +
liability order hospital travel + some medication and travel to see
government work focused group this leaves very little for food or
heating I cannot see a change and very much doubt I will win my case as
Atos seems beyond reproach my doctor was also instructed not to issue
myself with any unfit to work certificates by DHSS thankfully he has
ignored it is infuriating that my well established GP's judgement can be
in question yet Atos send a nurse for my assessment and her judgement
cannot be questioned

Saturday, 9 November 2013

Benefits Adviser: sanctions

Swheatie thanks Tracey Dunn for this referral that is likely to become more useful as time unfolds and the current scandal of Department for Work and Pensions overspend on the Universal Credit IT system overspend gives way to more smear stories about benefit fraud. 'Bentefit fraud' smear stories make jobcentre staff on short-term contracts more insensitive to the benefit war crimes they are ordered to commit and the general public more inclined to leave the Government to it.

The referred article advises what benefit claimants can and should do to protect themselves against being taken on a ride to destitution, and also emphasises that Universal Credit implementation with its 'Claimant Commitment' may eventually apply to ESA claimants and people ripped off by penny-pinching, state-subsidised employers and their shareholders. (Housing Benefit subsidises greedy shareholders and offshore landlords alike, and Universal Credit legislation is designed to criminalise those who suffer under rip-off merchants rather than the real rip-off merchants themselves.) It emphasises that you should appeal against sanctions, but also be aware what you are committing yourself to in a 'Claimant Commitment' or a 'Jobseekers Agreement'.

Swheatie adds that along the lines of 'prevention is better than cure', perhaps one of the worst things a claimant can do to start with is follow the jobcentre worker's instructions: "Just fill in your name, etc on this blank form and sign it and I'll fill in the details later." Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group says in response to this sort of entrapment ploy: "Never sign what you ain't read yet!"

Commenting on Blog Contents

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Commenters cause less confusion when they use their own names or pen names. A host of 'Anons' can give very mixed messages. Even if you use the technically easier 'Anonymous' button to make a comment you can still put your name at the end.

Benefits sanctioned? Take mass action!

An average of 1700 benefit clamants are sanctioned per year in each London parliamentary constituency. One of them might be writing parliamentary candidates in your polling constituency right now. How about more people who are sanctioned writing candidates in your parliamentary constituency and asking relevant questions at 'hustings' debates in your area?

Meeting structure

Helping you feel at home: We meet weekly in the Small Hall at KingsgateCC and start gathering from 3pm, attempting to start the meetings at about 3:15pm and definitely before 3:30pm.

Bring and share refreshments are included. We are not like the 'No eating or drinking on the premises' jobcentre.

The formal meetings start with firstname and what benefit we are on or a one-liner about what brings us to KUWG. (Pensioners and other allies welcome.)

We then ask for casework from those present, arrange who will help with what case, and go onto discussing campaigning leafleting and such outreach activities. We also arrange who will do the chairing or facilitating and note-taking for the following week. Rotating these roles helps minimise the risk of being dominated by one person and helps us build our skills as we share the workload.

Meetings actually finish at about 5:20pm to allow for putting tables and chairs back and leaving the kitchen facilities ready for the next group.